


A Little Love Affair

by What_The_Earth



Category: Mamma Mia! (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, If Bill had stayed on the island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 21:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15715497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/What_The_Earth/pseuds/What_The_Earth
Summary: Donna knows that her future lies in Kalokairi but she didn't know that her future happened to be a charmingly handsome Swede named Bill.





	A Little Love Affair

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic (surprise surprise) and was encouraged by the wonderful Bundibird.
> 
> I just really love Mamma Mia

Donna doesn't know why she feels that she has to go to Kalokairi; she just knows that it’s where she needs to be. She knows that’s where her future is – whether her mother likes it or not.

Which is why she’s desperate to get on the only ferry-boat to the island – which, as the seconds pass, she can feel her chances of getting on it slim dramatically. As a consequence Donna’s nerves have skyrocketed and now she can’t find her passport among the mess of her suitcase.

When she finally fishes it out of the bottom of her suitcase after sifting through all her clothes and then haphazardly stuffing them all back in, she gives the border guard her biggest grin which is equal parts an apology for taking so long and a plea to hurry the hell up. Naturally, that means he takes his sweet time checking her passport and scrutinising her picture, even deciding to comment that he had preferred her hair shorter (she didn’t). Her nerves getting the best of her, she rushes to grab her passport and starts running to the boat (in her haste forgetting her hat), but she fails to get there in time, and is stuck at the edge of the dock shouting at the quickly retreating ferry, its disappearance into the horizon mocking her.

Frustrated, she stares at the skyline, her reverie broken by the sound of a male voice taunting her: “I’ll have a whole new wardrobe by the end of it.” 

Unfortunately for her the guy in question happens to excessively handsome. Donna may be in Greece but there is no way she believes that this man is not a Greek god of some sort – he looks like fucking Apollo. So her attempts to be annoyed with him are quickly extinguished.

Upon closer investigation, she finds out that his name is Bill, he comes from Sweden (courtesy of the flag), he owns a boat and he may very well be her only chance to get to the island. Turns out with a bit of flirting it’s very easy to get bill to agree to take her to the island. It turns out Bill is an absolutely outrageous flirt; every sentence punctuated with a wink. It’s hard to take him seriously – not that she didn’t like it, though.

As they get to talking in the living area of the boat, she discovers that they share the same sense of adventure and she’s amazed by the stories he tells of the places he’s been and of the places he wants to go. As he tells her of his time in Botswana, she’s enthralled by the way he speaks with such certainty of his future – yet he manages to still seem so care free and spontaneous (well, he did give a stranger a lift to an island).

What astounds her is the way he speaks so fondly of his great aunt Sofia, who lives on the island as he emphasises how important family is to him- drastically different to Donna, who couldn’t tell you her aunt’s name- it’s not like she’s even close with her mother. Donna’s family is just her, she doesn’t need anybody else.  
Bill disagrees. 

“Donna, everybody needs somebody to rely on, it’s lonely to be by yourself.” He says it so earnestly that she can’t help but agree. And yeah, she’s not by herself- she has her Dynamos, they’re her family.

But as with everything, he manages to sneak in a subtle compliment about her into conversation- she would blush, but she’s been bombarded by his flirtatious compliments, so she’s not sure if she’s become desensitised or whether her face has just become permanently stained pink, but nonetheless the butterflies in her stomach don’t stop appearing. She’s so lost in thought that she doesn’t even notice when Bill tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear and leans in to kiss her for what must have been the fifth attempt today- and yet this time she doesn’t want to pull away.  
Her eyes are drawn to his, and she slowly moves towards him, close enough to feel his breath on her face, close enough to smell the sea air embedded in his skin, close enough to ki-. 

“HELP! HELP!” The moment is broken by the shouts from outside the boat. Donna pulls away. Bill leans in undeterred by the interruption. 

“Bill!” she shouts incredulously as she pushes him away, “we need to help him.” Bill sighs disappointed, still gazing at her soft lips, and reluctantly agrees; leading her up to the deck to spot the stranded Greek.

“What can we do for you” Bill calls across to the distressed man. 

“The love of my life, Apollonia, her family are forcing her to marry some old rich man, but she want to marry me, a fisherman,” he declares. 

Donna, warmed by his love-struck words looks over to Bill, locking eyes.

“Well I’ll just radio for help and we’ll be going” Bill utters, wrapping his arms around Donna’s waist to lead her back down. Donna unwraps his arm and called down to the man “of course we’ll help you. Come on aboard.”

Bill helped the man- Alexio on board and as Bill set a course to stop the wedding, Alexio began to regale her his great love affair with Appolonia, how they first met as children, how he would always try to impress her at the market – much to her father’s chagrin – and eventually how they came to fall in love... And, why her family had decided to marry her off to the richest (and sleaziest) man in the village. His far off gaze held so much affection and the woman he was speaking of and so much self assuredness that he was doing the right thing. Yet, the way his hands play with the frayed edges of his shirt told her that Alexio feared what might come of his leap of faith.

She wondered whether she would someday make that leap of faith- she doubted it, she’s more of a free spirit then one to lay down roots and get married. Harry... Harry’s nice but he’s a friend, not the love of her life – he's more of a lost puppy inhibited by what’s expected of him; he isn't exactly spontaneous or a thrill seeker excited for what the future holds. Bill on the other hand – he has that sense of adventure. She’s going to miss him when he sails away on his next adventure.

A loud outburst from Alexio shocks both her and Bill as the man spots the wedding party on the dock. 

“APPOLONIA!”

“ALEXIO!” Was the shocked reply from the woman in a wedding dress who Donna assumes is Appolonia. 

The already dramatic scene comes to a rise when Alexio jumps into the sea.

It’s so earnest that Donna feels guilty for laughing, but it’s such an absurd scene – watching this man and woman, fully dressed, just jump into the ocean, devil-may-care, screaming each others names.  
It becomes significantly less hilarious once she realises that neither (especially Apollonia) are adept at swimming, leading to Bill throwing his shirt across the boat and jumping into save the poor couple.

Her time with Bill was coming to an end, she realises later, as sees the shoreline of Kalokairi come into view. It was a shame that she would probably never see him again, but it was nice to meet such an eccentric character. As she leaves the boat he stops her, warning that a storm was brewing in the distance. 

Which is absolutely nonsense, it’s a clear day; she’s not about to put any stock in his prediction, and instead she wishes him well on his journey and his boat race, and then turns to leave. Before she gets very far – not even past the dock – she’s stopped by a shout and see Bill running towards her. 

“Donna! Wait!” he calls as he reaches her and throws an arm over her shoulder walking side by side, “What kind of man would I be if I let a young girl like yourself be alone on a strange island where you don’t speak the language and there’s a storm, huh?”

She raises her eyebrow doubtfully at his claim, sighing in exasperation. 

“Bill, there’s not going to be a storm and you’ll find I don’t need a man to take care of me” she says, continuing to pretend to be annoyed by his antics. “Are you sure you don’t have any ulterior motives?”

Bill fake gasps. 

“Ulterior motives?” he echoes, dramatic. “I can think of eighteen.” 

Donna shoves him away but Bill, undeterred continues, “One of them being that I can introduce you to my aunt, Sofia. She lives here and she can find you a place to stay.”

“Oh.” Donna said, surprised.

Bill just smiled at her “you will love Sofia – trust me, she’s a riot.”

The walk from the dock to the village would take a while Bill assured her, and in the tranquil atmosphere of the island she found herself letting her guards down and wondering if maybe the weight of her mother’s neglect would melt away with the heat.

The beauty of the village astounded Donna, every turn they took down the winding ally ways filled with surprises. She lingered around the market stalls looking over the fresh Mediterranean fruit on display – so much larger and brighter than she’s used to, thanks to being engorged by the constant sunlight and filled with vibrant colour. In fact everything felt so much more vibrant and alive here; the ancient civilizations, the myths, the gods all felt as real as ever in the small island of Kalokairi. 

Walking into the taverna, Bill led her straight to his aunt (completely ignoring the band that was playing with she personally thought were quite good) and introduced her. 

“καλημέρα Sofia, this is Donna, she read about the island – something about it being on the edge of the earth and housing Aphrodite’s fountain,” Bill smiled down at her looking for confirmation.

His aunt, Sofia, is a rather small woman but, it turns out, one who has the confidence of a goose that has eaten all your bread and knows that there is nothing you can do about it.

“Why – are you looking to find a lover? Can’t say you’ll find much luck here” her gaze turning to her son who shirked at the sight. “But, If you’re looking for a roof over your head you can stay up at the villa. Can’t say that it’s been well taken care of recently but its something at least. Bill, you know the way, you should take her up to it.” Her tone seemed to have an underlying meaning that left Donna stumped but caused Bill to blush.

Sofia’s son called out to them before they could leave – “Come back to the taverna later, my band is playing tonight!”  
Sofia reports, obviously exasperated by her son’s antics “You own the bar, your band plays every night” before turning to Donna and whispering, “save your ears, I’d stay in if I were you.”

Upon reaching the villa Donna is overcome by it, like everything on the island. The villa has this sense of nostalgia (even though she’d never been here) like it knew all her secrets and dreams; it was beautifully distressed – not that it’s necessarily safe as it seems like the stairs are ready to cave in any moment – but the whole place feels like it has its own story; she feels that she could give it a future or that it could feel like home.

Bill is leaning against the door frame of the entrance, watching Donna’s childlike wonder with a sparkle in his eye. She runs around the house entranced by every nook and cranny of the place and has, in fact, completely forgotten he’s even there. It's only when she slides down the rickety staircase, feels it falling apart beneath her, and screams that her attention is drawn back to him; he darts in just in time to catch her before the staircase collapses completely. 

“BILL?!” Donna exclaims from the protective circle of his arms, shocked. “You’re still here? But... Oh my god your boat race! You’re gonna miss it” worry and panic etched across her face as though this was of greater importance and stress than her near death experience a moment earlier. 

Still holding her in his arms, he says to her simply, “There's always another race but I might not get the chance to meet someone as incredible as you, Donna Sheridan.”  
Her heart quickens and blood rushes to her cheeks at his words. 

“And anyway,” he continues. “I’ve won it two years running so I may as well give those poor souls a chance.” And just like that his cocky attitude ruins the moment. It would be enough to be insufferable if he wasn’t so charming.

Some higher power seemed to have decided to vindicate Bill's warning (like he needed any more ego boosting) as the heavens opened abruptly and the two of them were soaked to the bone almost immediately, the quaint charm rubbing off as the water leaks through the cracks in the ceiling. 

Still, her never ending optimism leads her to dance in the rain- dragging Bill with her. The thunderous noise and eerie static ignites every one of her nerves, making her feel more alive than ever as she swings around in his arms. 

Abruptly, a distressed whinny comes from the stables. 

“Oh god, Hector” Bill panicked, and rushes towards the source of the noise. She runs after him into the stables to find a trapped horse frightened by the storm. 

“Hopefully he might remember me, I’ll try to calm him down. Can you grab the halter?” Bill directed her, worry evident in his tone. “Please stay safe Donna” 

He approaches the horse apprehensively, slowly calling it’s name. 

“Hey Hector, how are you buddy? Everything will be fine,” he soothes, and it’s not long before the horse calms at his soothing presence; Donna quickly takes her chance to hold the horse steady, and then joins Bill in stroking the horse’s mane and whispering affirmations.

“Another one of your relatives?” she asks cheekily, gazing into Bill's stormy eyes, her smile broadening ear to ear and her eyes crinkling as the rain continues to bombard her; she finds that she didn’t mind at all.  
Bill stares at the girl he could only have met twelve hours ago,. She had this natural beauty about her – she was drenched, her honey hair and clothes clinging to her sun kissed skin in a wild manner. 

Together they had reunited a man with his love and they had saved a horse. Adventure had always called to him and today it came in abundance, he found that he didn’t really mind where it came from as long as he was with her.


End file.
